Craig Raine interviewed Ian McEwan and received this unusual observation: "Falling in love whilst you are making love must be the ultimate human experience. It's better than skiing. Craig skis eight times a year."

Legend has it that once, at a dismally inept amateur boxing match in Hull, Philip Larkin turned to his neighbour with the words "Only connect." In its way, this is typical of Larkin. Not only that he should thus introduce a hallowed Forsterian nostrum into a coarse context, but also that he should yearn for aggression and directness.